could Gamers [help] save the world?

[Damashii!!]

Just heard this on the radio while driving home from work.

sorry if a similar topic has been posted recently already.

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/11/135248010/how-to-save-the-world-one-video-game-at-a-time

tl;dr version (radio broadcast, it's only about 6+ minutes):

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=135248010&m=135306806

[Geeky Stoner]

which some of the soundbytes came from.

she has some interesting ideas i've also heard some ideas where gamification could be very bad

[ambient]

Ok, so how spending 3 billion hours in a fantasy world is better than spending that time solving problems in the real world? I think it is relatively well-established that there needs to be something rather tangible at stake for people to react to a simulated situation in the same way that they would react to a real one. Reactions of people in a simulation of a world without oil tells us only one thing - what people's reactions are within the boundaries of that simulation, and assuming that it is a good indicator of their behavior in the real world is not only useless but dangerous. Gaming is just entertainment and, in its best instances, art. It's an end product, consumption of which takes considerable resources (time/brainpower) that could be spent for better use elsewhere. This is exactly why we see these efforts to convert this time into something of value; however, I am highly skeptical about the prospect of such conversion being realistic.

Anyhow, typing this out on my berry is a pain. So I might elaborate later.

[LuckyXIII]

Already happened...in the future...

[Brandon Strader]

cba with the science behind it, hot lady says to play games, count me in

[Damashii!!]

Already happened...in the future...

that's actually very close to what I was thinking when I thought about the Shell guy's speech.

but like Ambient I don't think that gamers/cooks/ballers/insert-passion-or-field-here could "save the world" anymore than others. It's just a drive that pushes determined people to excel in there given field and that could be used to "save the world."